WELCOME!

It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

My most favourite way to create textures in EnRoute is to use bitmaps. The possibilities are literally endless. The principles are simple. The bitmaps are read, pixel by pixel and then the EnRoute Program assigns a value to each. In normal settings (add to) black does nothing, white raised the relief to the full height of the number you enter and greys do something in between depending on their value.

As always we start with a vector outline. I then create a relief (in this case a flat relief). It can be any shape you wish.

If you are new to the program it is best to render what you create after every step. This will let you know what happened. If it is not what you expected then you have to change something.

I then imported a bitmap from my TEXTURE MAGIC COLLECTION. I make all of my own bitmaps and have amassed more than a hundred so far. These are sold on a DVD collection. In this case the bitmap is called addition. It is a black and white bitmap with hard edges. The bitmap will open to the size of your plate. In most instances this is far too small and so I then resize it as per my needs. The relief is visible as a greyed area. To see it clearer merely hit the render button.

Once you have the bitmap sized and positioned correctly you need to open the correct box. I keep this tool bar at the top of my screen. To make the button active you will need both the relief and bitmap to be selected.

When you open the dialogue box with the button you will see this box. I put a vale of 0.2" This means the white area of the bitmap will raise the relief areas 0.2" The black will do nothing,]

When you hit apply the results are instant. If you render it you can see what happened.

Even after eight years of doing this I still check multiple views to make sure it happened as I knew it would.

If the edges of the bitmap are blurred the relief will reflect that same thing. The transition from black to white is very soft on this texture.

We can reply;irate any texture I can imagine using bitmaps. I just have to keep in mind what the bitmaps do. Dark is nothing while pure white raises the surface. In this case I have a mostly texture with some dark wiggly lines. It is called 'CRACKED UP' and looks a lot like dried mud when we are done.

This is a new one which will be on the next TEXTURE MAGIC DVD collection. It is called 'DOUBLE WEAVE'.

This one I use often and it is called 'driftwood.'

The next one I also use a lot. It is made from a heavily tweaked picture of sandblasted redwood. I did the sample blasting more than twenty-five years ago. You can see from the picture that the bitmaps can be enlarged a great deal and still look right.

The next one is fun! It is a digitally tweaked bitmap of a fossil fish. Applied to my flat relief it looks good but we aren't finished yet.

After the fish bitmap was applied I imported a second bitmap called splotches. This creates a wonderful texture that is also one of my favourites. The application of a second (or even a third) layer of bitmap is a technique I often use to get a believable texture.

I also like to create certain effects using bitmaps such as a waving flag. This is done using a blended or graduated bitmap. To get a more dramatic bend in the surface simply type in a bigger number. In this case I used a value of 0.5" which is a fairly large number on a piece this small.

Any number of things can e created using bitmaps. This one of called 'spaghetti' with predictable results. It was inspired by my grand daughter's scribbles when she was young.

As I stated above anything you can imagine is possible. I encourage you to experiment and create your own. If you are too busy to do your own there are 101 bitmaps on the first TEXTURE MAGIC DVD which we sell and I am well on the way to having another 101 new and different bitmaps for a new DVD to be released soon.

Friday, March 27, 2015

The MultiCam CNC router is a wonderful tool. It works fast and accurate every time. But every once in a while it is fun to do a project the old fashioned way. The good people at Coastal Enterprises are to have a booth at the International Sign Association show in Las Vegas. I offered to whip them up a little sample for their display.

The sample piece had to demonstrate the qualities of Precision Board. It's easy to work, holds detail well and when painted can resemble whatever we imagine.

I chose a TIKI as the subject - just for fun. I decided to do the piece by hand to demonstrate it's ease of use. I drew some quick guidelines on the block of 40lb Precision Board, then fired up my air powered die grinder. It took less than an hour to carve the block into the rough shape.

Another half hour with the grinder filled in the detail. The next stage was a coat of FSC-88 WB primer. I used a small brush and purposely added just a little more texture.

When the primer was dry it was time for three coats of the base color.

Once the base colors were good and dry it was time for some fancy magic. The glazes were started with a warm orange/brown. I slathered it on and then wiped it off judiciously.

Then it was time for a red/brown. This time I wiped it off just a little harder leaving the darker color in the cracks to show off the texture to it's maximum advantage. The tiki was already looking pretty fine.

I then used some green, red and white paint to add in the color needed to bring it to life. Some missed spots and brush strokes were purposely left in place.

The last step was to add a dark glaze. It instantly added character and age to the piece.

Friday, March 20, 2015

I'm really looking forward to attending the International Sign Association show in Las Vegas in less than two weeks. I'll be at the MultiCam booth # 712 on the showroom floor. I look forward to meeting a lot of people and sharing my passion for creating dimensional signs.

Today in preparation for the show I began packing. My personal suitcase has to wait a little while yet but it is time to get the show pieces down south so we built a giant crate for each piece. It took eighteen sheets of plywood to fabricate the sturdy crates and they weighed in at almost 2000 lbs in total when they were all loaded.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The last piece to get it's final coats of paint was the TV stand and surround. Like the others it got its light and dark silver coats of paint. The flexible hoses got their bright green metallic. Once everything had dried thoroughly a glaze was liberally brushed on and then wiped off judiciously to make it look perfectly industrial.

The TV surround was carefully assembled and wired for the LED lighting in the gauges and 'liquid tube' which was clear acrylic tubing with air bubbles cast inside. After it was assembled and the base coats were dry this too received it's industrial glaze.

I had great fun with the branding, sneaking it in thirty-one times through the display.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Each time I watch our Multicam create a 3D file it is almost like it has a mind of its own. It is pure magic to see a block of Precision Board turn into something I previously imagined. This is what inspired the MultiCam Robot Router display piece. The starting point was this sketch.

We first welded up a sturdy steel frame. The display piece has to travel thousands of miles, will be leaned on and touched by thousands of people. We first screwed 3/4" plywood to the frame and then a second show layer of half inch thick MDF. The top is 1" thick MDF. The metal frame was extended out of the side to hold up the gantry. It is almost as sturdy and heavy as a real MultiCam!

I built the piece as I do much of our work, measuring and designing by eye, as I go. I mocked it up as the pieces came off the router, sometimes going back to the drawing board to get it all right.

Once all the front pieces were on and I was happy I then cut the middle pieces to fit over the welded steel frame and then added the back pieces. I hid internal wiring and LED lights throughout to add some bling to the final piece.

With all of the routed pieces assembled it was time for some hand work, first using the die grinder to add character and some texture to the edges and faces. Screw holes were filled and the joining bits sculpted with Abracadabra sculpting epoxy. Lastly I added all of the rivets and external decorative wires.

We then painted a texture coat of Coastal Enterprises Primer to the entire piece before hand brushing on three coats of metallic silver and gray paint. Lastly the painting crew laid on a heavy coat of brown patina to add a little grime and age to this steam punk industrial piece.

The real magic happened when I hooked up the transformer and wiring. The bright LED's glowed and brought the piece to life!

Building a trade show display is all about bringing attention to our customer's product service or business. Branding on the three pieces happens an amazing thirty-one times!

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PROFILE

Dan Sawatzky is best described as a creative force in the sign industry. He and his wife Janis are owners of Sawatzky’s Imagination Corporation – a small family company that specializes in the design and creation of dimensional theme signs and environments. They tackle projects of any size from small signs to entire theme parks. Their work has garnered numerous international awards and Dan’s articles appear frequently in the sign trade publications. Dan and his crew also host Sign Magic and Sculpting Workshops in their studio a number of times each year with attendees coming from around the world.
For more information please visit
www.imaginationcorporation.com